1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of laparoscopic and endoscopic surgery and in more particularly to a specially designed surgical irrigation probe tip configuration for defining an irrigation stream configuration which may also be used for stripping tissues of adhesive blood clots and dissecting tissue planes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During laparoscopic surgery, a form of endoscopic surgery dealing specifically with the abdominal area, a surgeon typically makes several small, spaced incisions through the abdominal wall of an anesthetized patient. A source of compressed CO2 is then provided through one of the incisions to inflate the abdomen, thus raising the abdominal wall above the organs and intestines of the patient. A space is thereby created between the abdominal wall and organs/intestines which allows manipulation of surgical instruments which have been inserted into the abdomen through at least one of the other incisions.
One problem that frequently occurs during such surgeries is when removing or moving organs, such as the gall bladder, there is a layer of adhesion holding such organ in place. In the case of the gall bladder, the layer of adhesion helps to retain and allow the gall bladder to sit on the liver bed. Thus, when removing the gall bladder one must overcome this layer of adhesion.
What is needed in the art is a surgical instrument which can supply a high pressurized linear stream of fluid which is a thin flat spray therefore directing energy along the same plane as the adhesion to dissect the adhesion holding an organ, such as the gall bladder, and for subsequent removal of such organ. It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementioned problems and shortcomings that the present invention is directed.